Students at religious universities are worried about access to birth control. Here's why.

A Jesuit statue is seen in front of Freedom Hall, formerly named Mulledy Hall, on the Georgetown University campus, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, in Washington. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)

The Senate’s proposed health care bill, which seems likely to restrict affordable access to some health benefits such as contraceptives, is creating an uphill battle for pro-choice student groups on Christian campuses, where administrations refuse to even officially recognize them.

Already feeling muzzled, many of these groups worry their message will be effectively drowned out at universities where faith is woven into academics and opposing views are discouraged.

And they’re concerned schools like Loyola University-Chicago — a Catholic, Jesuit university — will be emboldened by stricter legislation and step up efforts to oppose access to contraceptives with the full support of the federal government.

“We actually are not allowed to meet on campus. We aren’t allowed to organize or anything on campus,” says Jena DiMaggio, a rising senior at Loyola-Chicago and an organizer of Students for Reproductive Justice, a reproductive health student organization that wants better access to birth control on campus.

“I think it’s definitely going to make it easier for institutions like Loyola to deny elements of health care like reproductive health care under Trumpcare,” DiMaggio said.

Although a final Senate bill to repeal and replace Obamacare has been bogged down in disputes between moderates and conservatives, some elements of the legislation are clear: the defunding of Planned Parenthood for a year and the possible revocation of health services like birth control.

Under Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, employers must fully cover birth control and counseling costs without charging a copayment or coinsurance when provided by an in-network provider — even if the patient hasn’t met a deductible.

But certain nonprofit religious organizations, such as higher-education institutions or nonprofit religious hospitals, can apply for exemption from that mandate for religious reasons. If approved, they do not have to pay for contraceptive coverage. Third-party insurance companies cover those costs instead.

For the most part, universities like Loyola have been required to ensure contraception coverage is available through a third-party provider, but the proposed bill could widen the scope of the exemption policy. That could force many women who previously had full coverage to pay for their medication out of pocket.

Meanwhile, the defunding of Planned Parenthood would make it more difficult for students on religious universities’ insurance plans to access birth control, says DiMaggio. A Planned Parenthood center near Loyola-Chicago’s campus, DiMaggio says, is “absolutely the most affordable health care center that specializes in reproductive health care anywhere near campus.”

At Georgetown University, another Jesuit school, the premier plan funded by UnitedHealthcare covers about 20% of undergraduates includes birth control to prevent pregnancy, according to reproductive justice student group H*yas for Choice. At the Student Health Center, birth control can be prescribed only for medical reasons other than the prevention of pregnancy, such as chronic acne, irregular periods or polycystic ovary syndrome.

“We know that many of our community members rely on this coverage,” says Kory Stuer, a rising junior at Georgetown and the communications director for H*yas for Choice. “The conversation we’re having is about how on our campus can we protect our own community. And can we make sure that Georgetown continues to provide the coverage that it is already providing?”

But operating without formal recognition by the university, H*yas for Choice can only gather to protest or distribute free condoms — which are not allowed to be sold on campus — in designated free-speech zones on campus. In fact, they use an asterisk in their name so as not to appear to be officially associated with the school.

Amelia Irvine, a member of Georgetown’s Right to Life club and president of Love Saxa, a group that promotes healthy relationships on campus, said she hopes students reflect on their sexual choices in light of the possible change in the law. “It’s always a viable (and free) option to choose not to have sex while in college,” she says. “Birth control can create a society in which pregnancy is treated like a disease to be cured, rather than a gift.”

A Georgetown spokesperson said in an email to USA TODAY College that the university health insurance plan will not change in the coming school year. The university will continue to comply with health care laws and monitor any changes to them.

A frank discussion of reproductive health issues in such an environment is difficult, says Morgan Mitchell, a 2017 Biola graduate, which is why she started a Planned Parenthood Defenders group during her senior year.

“A lot of people came up to me and said ‘Finally, someone who I agree with. I felt like I was so alone,'” she says.

Biola is one of more than a dozen universities and religious nonprofits that have filed lawsuits to fight the ACA contraception mandate, despite the fact that it has long been covered in the school’s insurance policy, even before the passage of Obamacare.

Biola spokesperson Jenna Loumagne says the university’s insurance plan continues to cover contraceptives, “as there are many reasons such contraceptives may be needed.” The university “has no issue with birth control,” she said, aside from drugs like Plan B.

Mitchell says the anti-contraceptive position creates misunderstandings between medical professionals and their young patients on campus.

In the school’s health center, she notes, abstinence-only posters hanging from the walls discourage young women from sharing their experiences with their doctors — and from asking about contraceptives.

“It’s just this lack of logic and lack of understanding, which is really sad. I think it’s not really Christian to look at people in their situations and not fully, completely understand what people are going through,” Mitchell says.

At Georgetown, Stuer says H*yas for Choice is concerned students will simply not have access to affordable birth control if it is removed from the insurance plan.

“We firmly reject the narrative that Catholic and Jesuit values are somehow incompatible with access to comprehensive health care,” Stuer says. “Choosing to attend a religiously affiliated university does not entitle that university to make decisions about your health.”